Cyrano de Bergerac

“Bloom of the peach— / Blush of the strawberry—”

This description of Roxane’s beauty by a marquis utilizes the motif of food. Many men harbor Unrequited Love for Roxane, and food is used to explain why they are enamored with her.

“I will not wound the mantle of the Muse—”

This is an example of the play’s love of poetry and poetic conventions. The Muse, which represents artistic inspiration, is invoked here by Cyrano. He offers all his money to close the play because he believes the lead actor is subpar, developing the theme of Artistry Versus Commercialism.

“Lyric: Hark—the horn / of Roland calls to summon Charlemagne!”

This is one of the insults that Cyrano lists about his own nose in response to Valvert’s weak insult. It alludes to the Song of Roland, a famous romance, and demonstrates how Cyrano is both witty and well-read.

“Prince! Pray God, that is Lord of all, / Pardon your soul, for your time has come! / Beat—pass—fling you aslant, asprawl—Then, as I end the refrain…Thrust home!”

This is the refrain of the Ballade (a formal poem) Cyrano composes on the spot while fencing with Valvert. The words mirror his actions—this refrain ends with Cyrano lunging and thrusting his sword into Valvert. This is an example of how Cyrano is simultaneously an expert of swordplay and wordplay.

“I am going to be a storm—a flame— / I need to fight whole armies all alone; / I have ten hearts; I have a hundred arms; I feel / Too strong to war with mortals— / BRING ME GIANTS!”

Here, at the end of Act 1, Cyrano has just heard that Roxane wants to talk to him, and, believing she loves him, he is inspired to feats of incredible strength and bravery. This foreshadows how he will defeat all of Lignière’s enemies by himself, winning many admirers in the process, fueled by what turns out to be Unrequited Love.

“CYRANO: Have you a pen?

RAGUENEAU: (Offers him a pen.) An eagle’s feather!”

In this dialogue, Cyrano prepares to write his first love letter to Roxane, still believing she loves him (and not Christian). This speaks to the importance of the epistolary throughout the play. Also, the type of pen—a feather—foreshadows Cyrano’s final line about a white plume, which is a reference to the famous hat of Henry de Navarre (a king of France) and a potential writing instrument.

“Skull-breakers they are, and sword-benders; / Red blood is their favorite brew; / Hot haters and loyal befrienders, / Skull-breakers they are, and sword-benders. / Whenever a quarrel engenders, / They’re ready and waiting for you! / Skull-breakers they are, and sword-benders; / Red blood is their favorite brew!”

This is a stanza of the poem about the Cadets of Gascoyne that Cyrano recites twice in the play, once before Guiche in Ragueneau’s pastry shop, and once at the front as he runs into battle. It shows the character of the people from the Gascony region of France and utilizes poetic devices, such as rhyme and repetition.

“I am too proud to be a parasite, / And if my nature wants the germ that grows / Towering to heaven like the mountain pine, / Or like the oak, sheltering multitudes— / I stand, not high it may be—but alone!”

This is the end of Cyrano’s list of reasons why he refuses Guiche’s offer of patronage that has the refrain “no thank you.” It speaks to his fatal flaw, his pride, and demonstrates his poetic prowess. Mountains are seen in poetry from many different cultures, including classical Chinese poetry and European poetry.

“If I could be / a handsome little Musketeer with eyes!”

This is a part of the first scene with dialogue between Cyrano and Christian. Cyrano longs to be beautiful while Christian longs to be witty. This develops the theme of The Nature of Beauty and the Mind. Furthermore, this is just one of many allusions to The Three Musketeers by Dumas.

“Love, I love beyond / Breath, beyond reason, beyond love’s own power / Of loving! Your name is like a golden bell / Hung in my heart; and when I think of you, / I tremble, and the bell swings and rings— / ‘Roxane!’…‘Roxane!’”

This is some of the extemporaneous poetry Cyrano recites while pretending to be Christian under Roxane’s balcony. It is an example of his Unrequited Love—an overwhelming, excessive kind of love that draws upon the tradition of courtly love in Arthurian romances.

“What is a kiss, when all is done? / A promise given under seal—a vow / Taken before the shrine of memory— / A signature acknowledged—a rosy dot / Over the i of Loving—a secret whispered / To listening lips apart—a moment made / Immortal, with a rush of wings unseen—”

This is later in the balcony scene after Christian has interjected that he wants a kiss from Roxane and Cyrano develops this outburst into poetry. This passage develops the theme of The Nature of Beauty and the Mind because while Cyrano offers poetic and intellectual definitions of a kiss, it is Christian who performs the physical act of kissing.

“Well—when I write my book, and tell the tale / Of my adventures—all these little stars / That shake out of my cloak—I must save those / To use for asterisks!”

This passage occurs when Cyrano is distracting Guiche while Roxane marries Christian. He claims to have traveled to the moon and back and has caught some stars during his travels. These lines demonstrate Rostand’s love of the art of writing, figuratively equating celestial bodies with punctuation marks and using poetic language to describe the act of writing, combining form and content.

“Small, demure tunes / Whose every note is like a little sister— / Songs heard only in some long silent voice / Not quite forgotten—Mountain melodies / Like thin smoke rising from brown cottages / In the still noon, slowly—Quaint lullabies, / Whose very music has a Southern tongue—”

Here, while the Cadets are starving at the front and morale is low, Cyrano asks an old man to play on his fife. The music speaks to the pastoral—an ideal of rustic, rural life—land of Gascony, where many of the Cadets are from. Music is deeply linked with poetry in Rostand’s play and throughout history.

“I dropped my eyes and said: ‘I have a lover…’ Whereupon, the Spaniard / With an air of ferocious dignity / Would close the carriage door—with such a gesture / As any king might envy, wave aside / The muskets that were leveled at my breast, / Fall back three paces, equally superb / In grace and gloom, draw himself up, thrust forth / A spur under his cloak, sweeping the air / With his long plumes, bow very low, and say: ‘Pass, Senorita!’”

In this passage, Roxane describes how she passed through the Spanish forces to deliver food to the Cadets at the front. This speaks to the tradition of courtly love in Spain—the Spanish soldiers honor a woman visiting a lover but not one visiting a husband. Roxane uses this to argue that the Spanish are even more romantic than the French by protecting a woman in love despite the fact that she is a citizen of the nation they are at war with.

“My company / Was in want of a banner. We have now / The fairest in the army!”

Here, Carbon convinces Roxane to drop her handkerchief, and he picks it up to use as a banner. This is part of the theme of Unrequited Love, for all the Cadets are somewhat in love with Roxane at this moment. The gift of a handkerchief is taken from Arthurian romances and is a part of the courtly love tradition—a lady’s handkerchief is supposed to protect her knight and represent how he serves her.

“I read them / Over and over. I grew faint reading them. / I belonged to you. Every page of them / Was like a petal fallen from your soul— / Like the light and the fire of a great love, / Sweet and strong and true—”

This passage emphasizes the power of the written word, especially the epistolary. Roxane’s love grew by rereading Cyrano’s words, which she believes were written by Christian, developing the theme of Unrequited Love. Also, this passage includes many tropes, or conventions, of courtly love poetry, characterizing love as a light and a fire.

“You must have suffered; for you must have seen / How frivolous I was; and to be loved / For the mere costume, the poor casual body / You went about in—to a soul like yours, / That must have been torture! Therefore with words / You revealed your heart. Now that image of you / Which filled my eyes first—I see better now, / And I see it no more!”

Here, Roxane talks to Christian about his letters, which is ironic because they were written by Cyrano. She has fallen for the mind behind the letters and condemns her initial, vain love of Christian’s beauty, developing the theme of The Nature of Beauty and the Mind.

“I have two deaths to avenge now—Christian’s / And my own!”

Cyrano says this to the wounded Carbon before heading into battle. He feels like he has died because he is no longer able to write love letters to Roxane using Christian’s name—he has lost his epistolary identity. This develops the theme of Unrequited Love.

“More than ten years; ever since / His cousin came to live among us here— / Her worldly weed among our linen veils, / Her widowhood and our virginity— / Like a black dove among white doves.”

In this passage, Mother Marguerite discusses the time that elapses between Act 4 and Act 5, where Cyrano visits Roxane in the convent. Roxane still believes Christian was the author of the letters and mourns him accordingly by not taking another lover. However, the fact that she did kiss and embrace him before his death sets her apart from the nuns.

“And his last letter—always at your heart? Roxanne: It hangs here, like a holy reliquary.”

In this dialogue, Guiche asks Roxane about Christian’s final letter (written by Cyrano). Comparing a love letter with a reliquary—something that holds holy objects, like the bones of saints—highlights how love can be portrayed as a secular religion. This is part of the tradition of courtly love, popularized in Marie de Champagne’s court of love by poets, such as Chretien de Troyes.

“His satires make a host of enemies— / He attacks the false nobles, the false saints, / The false heroes, the false artists—in short, / Everyone!”

Here, Le Bret discusses Cyrano’s writings after Christian’s death. These enemies end up murdering Cyrano for his words. Cyrano’s dedication to what he considers true art develops the theme of Artistry Versus Commercialism.

“Yes—they know how to die. A little way / From the branch to the earth, a little fear / Of mingling with the common dust—and yet / They go down gracefully—a fall that seems / Like flying!”

This passage is Cyrano talking to Roxane about the autumn leaves. This scene contains the dramatic irony of Cyrano dying in front of Roxane without revealing his injuries. However, he hints at his imminent death by describing the leaves in a melancholy tone. Even at the end of his life, he wants to entertain, highlighting how the play is a tragicomedy.

“I would not have you mourn any the less / That good, brave, noble Christian; but perhaps— / I ask you only this—when the great cold / Gathers around my bones, that you may give / A double meaning to your widow’s weeds / And the tears you let fall for him may be / For a little—my tears…”

After Roxane learns that Cyrano is dying, and the author of the letters, he asks her to mourn him. This develops the idea that Christian and Cyrano were two parts of the same man, or the theme of The Nature of Beauty and the Mind. The double meaning of her “weeds”—her clothes—reflects the duality of the two men as well as how much of Rostand’s wordplay uses double meanings.